Flavia Ruotolo: Zoo

Flavia Ruotolo works as a graphic and textile designer in Genoa, Italy. She is the woman behind Le Macchinine Design — go and have a look at her shop, which is full of wonderfully simple T-shirts, prints and other things for children. There is a clarity to her line that I could spot from a long way off.

I was very glad to find Flavia’s small book Zoo in our mailbox on Saturday. It is one of those books that does so much with so little. Inside you will meet a crocodile, a wolf, a frog, a flamingo and several other animals, each one composed entirely from yellow, red and green building blocks. The book is perfect for playing the game of what animal is it? with a small child — and just as good for adults who like to look closely at how shape becomes meaning.

What I love is the way the geometry leaves room for the reader. A crocodile here is two long red rectangles and a triangle; a wolf is a stack of green wedges with a single yellow eye. The brain fills in the rest. It reminded me a little of Munari’s books for very young children — the same trust in the reader, the same delight in pure colour and form.

The production is lovely too. Thick board pages, clean white space, and just enough text on each spread to anchor the picture without explaining it away. It is the kind of book a one-year-old will chew on and a four-year-old will use to invent their own animals.

If Flavia ever makes a second volume — perhaps with circles? — I will be first in line for a copy.